Responds to letter writer's points 010898 - The Augusta Chronicle

I concur with Cliff Henning's Jan. 4 letter that, "Just because you don't agree with the facts of history doesn't mean you omit them." Mr. Henning "Demands all `facts' in history lesson?" Very well, let's address (some of his quotes):

"The Pilgrims came here to escape religious persecution."

Well, not exactly. The British would not tolerate (among other things) the "Puritan/Pilgrims" destroying public and private property, crucifixes, religious statues, paintings and pre-Christian grave markers and monuments. Being thereby deprived of their religious "right" to persecute other Christian sects of England, the beloved Pilgrims traveled to the new world and promptly began persecuting themselves.

Now here is your history lesson; The first document in America advocating the separation of church and state was written by none other than the Puritan/Pilgrims themselves.

In The Blovdy Tenent (1644) author Roger Williams says, "It is the will and command of God that a permission of the most Paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or anti-Christian consciences and worships, bee granted to all men in all nations and countries...God requireth not an uniformity of religion to be enacted and enforced in any civil state; which uniformity (sooner or later) is the greatest occasion of civill Warre."

"Socialism has been a complete failure in every country."

Wrong. Socialism did extremely well for hundreds of years in Peru -- until destroyed by the ultra-Christian Spaniards.

"...Teaching morals and ethics without the benefit of soul, God, or inner shame is impossible."

It probably is impossible -- for certain people. It is also probably impossible to teach these certain people calculus. ...